A few months back in January, the Indian Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a ramp up of the solar grid-connected rooftop budget from USD 90 million to over USD 700 million up to 2019-20. The amount was sanctioned as part of the National Solar Mission that aims to facilitate the installation of over 4.2 GW of rooftop solar energy in the country in the next 5 years.

Last November at Intersolar India, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) joint secretary Tarun Kapoor had announced plans to further the rooftop subsidy from 15% to 30%. The subsidy would be enjoyed by most states with a special 70% subsidy for special category states such as Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

These subsidies will not be applicable to industrial and commercial establishments in the private sector since these institutions already qualify for other benefits such as custom duty concessions, tax holidays and accelerated depreciation. Banks, state agencies and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) are expected to start with the disbursement of the subsidy soon.

In November last year, Bridge to India released the ‘India Solar Rooftop Map 2016’ at Intersolar India, stating that the total rooftop installed capacity as of 31 October 2015 was 525 MW with an additional 455 MW estimated to be added in the following 12 months. The consultancy also forecast 6.5 GW to be installed in rooftop solar capacity in the country by 2020. In a bid to support the initiative, 26 states have decided to boost solar rooftop through gross and net metering programmes.

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